Mutant X Transcripts: Ep 101 "Shock of the New"
Mutant X Episode Transcripts
Mutant X Episode #101 Transcript: " Shock of the New"
[Opening Scene: A crowded city bar at night. A brown-haired young woman in a red jacket, Emma deLauro frantically pushes through the crowd, clutching her pocketbook and periodically looking over her shoulder at two men chasing her. From a television screen in the center of the room, a computerized newscaster, Proxy Blue, projects her voice over the background noise of the crowd.]
Proxy Blue: A teenage girl falls six stories, then walks away unscathed. A man bursts into flames with no signs of burns. One thing's for sure. It's getting weirder out there every day. But the truth is spoken here. [In her flight towards the door, Emma bumps into a tall man, Brennan Mulwray, nearly knocking him over.]
Emma: Help me.
Brennan: Wai-what? [Emma stares into his eyes, and Brennan recoils in shock as his mind is assaulted with flashing images of Emma screaming. Seeing that her pursuers are closing in, Emma dashes out the door. Turning, she peers at Brennan through the door’s window, and a second wave of screaming images fills his mind before she vanishes into the night. Unsure of what just happened, Brennan continues across the nightclub, glancing back at the window. Outside the club, a black SUV steadily gains on Emma as she races down the dark empty street. She’s starting to slow when a blond man in a leather jacket, Jesse Kilmartin, appears out of the darkness and pushes her out of the SUV’s path. The SUV barrels towards him, but his body dissipates so that the car runs right through him and screeches to a halt several feet away. A blonde woman, Shalimar Fox, leaps down from a building onto the roof of the SUV, kicking the driver in the face when he emerges. The passenger jumps onto the car, but Shalimar easily dodges his punches and flips backwards into the air, knocking him off the roof. Two more men come running down the street, drawing their guns. Pulling Emma behind his back, Jesse changes again, this time becoming so dense that their bullets bounce off his body. The rock-hard Jesse then punches the first shooter in the chest, sending him flying backwards. He kicks a metal barrel up over his head and spins sideways into the air, propelling the barrel into the second shooter. Shalimar soars down from the SUV's roof, shoves the driver against the car with one kick to his chest, and drops the passenger to the ground with two flying kicks to the face. Grinning at Shalimar, Jesse leans over the unconscious body of the first shooter and draws back his fist.]
Jesse: Smile, loser! [The ring on his finger snaps a photograph of the man’s face. As Jesse walks around getting pictures of the fallen men, Emma starts to back away, only to find a figure in a long black coat, Adam, striding up to her.]
Adam: No need to run anymore, Emma. You're among friends.
Emma: How do you know my name? [Shalimar and Jesse walk up; Adam smiles at them.] Wait, what's going on?
Adam: All of your questions will be answered. Right now, time to go. [He holds out his hand. She glances back at Jesse, who nods his encouragement. She takes Adam’s hand, and the four leave together.]
[A little later, a VTOL aircraft, lovingly nicknamed the Double Helix, flies over the skyscrapers of the city. Inside the aircraft, Adam sits up front, examining Jesse’s photographs of the fallen men on a holographic computer screen in front of him. Jesse and Shalimar sit on either side of Emma, who sits rigidly upright, hugging her pocketbook.]
Jesse (swiveling to face the front): Check out these shots, Adam.
Adam: Terrific. Uplink to Sanctuary’s database. Shalimar, Jesse, great work.
Emma: Will somebody please tell me who the hell you guys are and what this is all about?
Adam (swiveling to face her): Sorry, Emma. I'm Adam. [He nods at Shalimar.] And this is Mutant X. [Shalimar and Jesse smile at her. Emma gapes at Adam, perplexed.]
Opening Credits. “Shock of the New.”
[Adam leans towards Emma, continuing his explanation.]
Adam: Your assailants were members of a security wing of Genomex, a biotech firm which is actually a secret branch of U.S. intelligence. [He holds up a small circle of white plastic.] Now this is a visual cloak, and...please don’t panic. [He places the cloak on Emma’s temple; Emma’s eyes turn white.]
Emma: I can’t see!
Adam: It’s only temporary. [Shalimar puts a comforting hand on her shoulder, but the blind Emma jumps at her touch. Arriving at Stormking Mountain, The Double Helix flies straight into the face of the rock, which dissipates to admit them. The Helix continues down a long tunnel into a large landing bay. The team leads Emma, still blinded by the visual cloak, into Sanctuary, their secret headquarters.]
Emma: So why do they care about me?
Adam: It’s your tele-empathic gift. Your power to sense the feelings of others and to influence those feelings.
Emma: I don’t know what you’re talking about. [Smiling, Adam removes the visual cloak and Emma gapes at the scene around her. Behind her, a waterfall cascades down the ivied wall into a reflecting pool. Jesse and Shalimar look down at her from inside a large mushroom-shaped dojo supported by wooden stilts.]
Jesse: Pretty cool, huh? [He turns to Shalimar.] Is that what I looked like when I first saw it?
Shalimar (laughing): Nah. You just started crying. I’m kidding.
Adam (walking Emma through the garden): Shalimar and Jesse and you are all children of Genomex. Genomex conducted a secret genetics program which had the unforseen consequences of creating men and women with special abilities, like your tele-empathic power.
Emma: I keep telling you I don't have any powers! [Jesse and Shalimar come down the dojo steps to join them in the center of the room.]
Adam: Now, you're aware of these odd stories that we've been hearing about recently? Curious events, inexplicable mysteries, human oddities? [He points to a television screen, filled with images of news stories headlined “Big Brother Is Watching You.”]
Emma: Yeah, but I never believed those stories were true.
Adam: Yes, all right, some of them are fakes; some of them are hoaxes. But to an alarming degree, it's the children of Genomex that are behind such phenomena.
Emma: So it's not all aliens and crystals and reincarnation, huh? [Jesse and Shalimar grin at each other.]
Adam (leading them up the stairs to the second floor): No, well of course not. You've seen what Jesse and Shalimar can do. There are perhaps a thousand children of Genomex. Now some of them know who and what they are, but some of them are terrified at the changes that are happening to them. [He stops at the dining table.]
Emma (standing across from him): Well, I still don't get why you've kidnapped me.
Adam: I prefer to call it recruitment. [Emma looks over at Shalimar and Jesse, who smile at her from the end of the table.]
Emma (to Adam): So are you one of these children too?
Adam (sighing): No. No, I was chief biogeneticist at Genomex. [Emma stares at him through narrowed eyes.]
[Scene: Genomex headquarters. A man in a white wig, Mason Eckhart, stands in his office with eyes closed in front of a glowing circular sterilizing unit. He carefully pulls a form-fitting sheet of sheer plastic down over his face and tucks it into his collar. From a safe distance behind him, one of his employees, Frank Thorne, is reporting to him on the night’s events.]
Frank Thorne: There were two men, one woman. The woman, she attacked like a tiger, and one of the men seemed to be able to go from intangible to massive at will. And the second man grabbed the girl before we were able to get to her.
Mason (pressing the fake skin into place): That sounds like Adam and his people.
Thorne: Our GS agents are new at this.
Mason: Well, they have to get better. [Opening his eyes, he turns to face Thorne.] And fast, Mr. Thorne.
Thorne: Yes, Mr. Eckhart. Ah. [He walks over to Mason, bending close to check the seal on either side of Mason’s neck.] Ah. Good to go. [Mason dons his tinted glasses, fastens his tie, and follows Thorne out of the room.]
[Scene: Sanctuary, inside Adam’s pyramid-shaped laboratory. Jesse and Shalimar stand outside on the upper level, peering down through the glass upon Emma, who reclines in a dentist’s examining chair wearing only a black bra and shorts. Adam stands at the computer by her side, continuing his lecture.]
Adam: Despite your genetically enhanced abilities, the children of Genomex are not superhuman.
Emma: I keep telling you, I don't have any--
Adam (interrupting her, walking up to her): And it's vitally important for you to recognize the toll that these abilities take on your body, mind, and soul. [Above them, Shalimar and Jesse leave the observation deck and head down towards the lab.]
Emma: Soul?
Adam: Soul. There's a spiritual side to your condition too. Too many of the new mutants are under the delusion that they're God. [Stepping back to the computer, Adam reclines the chair and activates a yellow beam from the scanner in the ceiling above Emma.] Now, I’ve designed this EDD to diagnostically calibrate your genetic enhancement and to identify any adjustment to your DNA that might be required since your new mutant DNA? It’s in a constant state of evolution. [Turning off the scanner, he goes back to the computer. Jesse and Shalimar walk in to stand in front of Emma’s chair.]
Emma (sitting up): Well, that was too weird.
Jesse: I kinda like it, myself.
Shalimar: Yeah, me too. Helps me get in touch with my powers.
Emma: Well, I don’t have any powers. And I’m certainly not a freak like you two.
Jesse (hurt): Freak? [He leaves the room. Glaring at Emma, Shalimar’s eyes glow yellow, then she follows him out. Emma turns to Adam in surprise.]
Adam: Jesse is very sensitive. Shalimar is very territorial and very protective of the people that she loves. And that includes Jesse.
[The next day, Brennan returns to the bar to meet with two of his associates in crime, Tony Reese and Michael Azzarello. Waiting at a table with his drink, he watches the computer-generated newscaster’s report.]
Proxy Blue: Call me paranoid, but I figure the paranoid will inherit the Earth.
Tony (sitting down next to him): I thought you'd outgrown cartoons.
Brennan: I'm just curious about all this stuff that's going on.
Tony: Ah, it's crap. On the interactive hotline? It's gotta be a scam.
Michael: When you two are finished, can we talk about how we’re stepping up to the big leagues tomorrow? The deal with Carter’s a go. [They clink glasses, smiling.]
[Scene: The records room at Genomex. Mason watches as Dr. Paul Breedlove, an older bespectacled man, goes to his jukebox to play an oldies song.]
Dr. Paul Breedlove: I heard all about that business last night, Mason. Sounds like Adam to me.
Mason: You seem almost amused. That you don't despise him for betraying you remains a mystery to me.
Dr. Breedlove (turning to look at him): That you hold him responsible for the collapse of your immune system would have nothing to do with that, eh? You were always too hard on Adam.
Mason: And you were always too easy, Paul. And that's how he stole your database. [He starts to leave.]
Dr. Breedlove (calling him back): Which I have nearly reconstructed. So we can make amends for the horrific mistakes we've made. [Sitting at his desk, he begins typing on the typewriter. Mason walks out of the room to join Thorne, who’s waiting for him down the hallway.]
Mason: I should have killed Adam when I had the chance. And now Breedlove intends to go to the press and expose everything. And I'll never get the chance to bring Adam to the justice that he deserves.
Thorne: Well, we can change all that. [They smile at each other.]
[Outside the lab at Sanctuary, Adam joins Shalimar in the hallway to talk about Emma.]
Shalimar: What are we supposed to do?
Adam: Well, I can’t coerce her into admitting she’s a new mutant.
Shalimar: Fine. I guess we’ve done everything we can, then.
Adam: Well, maybe the next step is to get her out of town, under Eckhart’s radar.
Shalimar: I’ll get Jesse started, then.
Adam: Good. [She leaves.]
[Scene: The top level of a parking garage, mid-day. Arriving at the meeting place early, Brennan dons a pair of sunglasses and looks around for possible witnesses. When he sees noone, he creates a web of electricity in one hand and throws it at a black sports car across the parking lot, instantly unlocking the car’s doors. Brennan gets into the car and zaps the ignition with a streak of electricity from his finger. He laughs as the engine starts up, and zooms away. Slowly emerging from his hiding place behind a car, Tony gapes after him.]
********Commercial Break**********
[At Genomex headquarters, Mason strides through a scientific lab on his way towards the Genomex records room, this time accompanied by Thorne.]
Mason: Normal people don’t want super-powered freaks next door.
Thorne: I don’t think they’ll be too thrilled about having new mutants as covert ops either.
Mason: When we put them into the field as agents, no one will know about it. [Entering the records room, he stops in front of Dr. Breedlove’s desk.] I’m sorry to barge in like this, Paul, but I wanted Mr. Thorne to have a look at security so we’d be able to be ready for you when you go public. [Thorne walks into the room, looking around.]
Dr. Breedlove (standing): Oh, that’s a wonderful idea! Since I’m going to the press next week with full disclosure of what’s been happening here since the inception of the program.
Thorne: Well, please call me first. We have to approach this with...finesse. [They both look at Mason.]
Dr. Breedlove: I’ll give you a head’s-up.
Mason (smiling): Thanks, Paul. [He and Thorne start out of the room.]
Dr. Breedlove (calling after them): You should come down and visit us more often! [Looking almost horrified about that idea, Mason walks back down the hall with Thorne.]
Mason: A week doesn’t give you much time.
[Having completed his joyride, Brennan returns the car to its spot on top of the parking garage, where Tony and Michael are anxiously waiting.]
Brennan (getting out, chuckling): So I got here a little early, thought I’d take her out for a little test drive.
Michael: What?! You took her for a spin?
Tony: You got any idea what we could get for this at a chop shop?
Brennan: What do you mean, we? Unlike you, I’ve set higher goals for myself than grand theft auto.
Brad Carter (coming up to them): Right on time, I see.
Michael: Mr. Carter. You remember Brennan and Tony.
Brad: It’s a beauty.
Tony (looking at the car): Yeah, I’ll bet it takes the curves at 120, huh?
Brad (pointing to a skyscraper across the street): I meant the Hickman-Wrightson Securities building. [He turns to Michael.] Now you understand that you have only 120 seconds once the alarm is cut to get in and get out, right?
Michael: Yeah.
Brad: You picked my pocket this morning, you got your hands on this. [He hands him a key.] The Vice President has the twin. These two keys need to be activated simultaneously.
Michael: Not to worry, Mr. Carter. We won’t let you down.
Brad: Well, see that you don’t. Because there’s always somebody else who wants your place in the food chain. [Stepping between Brennan and Michael, he unlocks his car door. Brennan holds the door open for him, and he gets in, looking at them oddly when he has to adjust the seat for his legs. Brennan closes the door, and he drives away.]
Michael (slapping Brennan’s hand): You! You got stones of steel, dog! [Brennan hugs him.] Taking a joy ride in a client’s car. Nice.
Brennan: Yep. [He looks at Tony.] So, now you see why a chop shop isn’t an option. [Putting his arm around Michael’s shoulders, he walks off with him, talking and laughing. Tony unhappily follows them.]
[Scene: Adam leads Emma up a darkened stairwell towards Ruby Bishop’s small bookstore.]
Adam: This way.
Emma: Well, I’ll say one thing. This must be one hell of a bookstore.
Adam: You have no idea. [He leads her through a row of bookshelves, coming up behind the bookstore’s owner, Ruby Bishop.]
Ruby (without turning around): Adam. And a pretty girl! [Turning, he shakes Adam’s hand and points to the back of the store.] It’s almost ready.
Adam (smiling): Good. Emma, say hello to Ruby.
Ruby (reading her mind): Yes, the place is a mess. But I am spotless. Trust me. [She stares at him.] Your mind, it's an open book to me.
Adam: Ruby's a telepath.
Ruby: I prefer ESPer. It just sounds...sexier. [Grinning, Emma reaches out to shake his hand; he hold hers in both of his.] Oh, Adam. You told me she was special. You didn’t tell me how special.
Adam: Come on. Let’s go. [Ruby stands guard as Adam walks to a special bookcase, and pulls out one of the books.] Just like in the movies. [The bookcase swivels inward to reveal a large inner warehouse. As they walk in, a woman and a man look up from their repair work.] Allison? Vince? This is Emma.
Allison: What’s up, Adam?
Vince: Adam. [Vince’s hands move faster than the speed of light as he fits plugs into a circuit breaker.]
Allison (maneuvering a small blowtorch through the air with her mind): Hey girl, what’s up?
Emma: What is this place?
Adam: This is a new mutant safehouse.
Emma: Safe from what?
Adam: Your assailants last night, they were the tip of the iceberg.
Allison: So what's your power?
Emma: I don't have any powers.
Allison: Ah. The power of denial. So, you ready to leave tomorrow? [Emma glances at Adam in confusion.]
Adam: We’re going to get you out of town. We’re gonna give you a new identity, a whole new life.
Emma: Well, what if I don’t wanna go?
Adam: Well, then, the people we rescued you from last night will try again. And they’re nowhere near as friendly as we are. [To Allison.] Why don’t you show her around?
Allison: Yeah. [Adam leaves.]
[Back at Sanctuary’s main room, Shalimar’s standing next to Jesse as he works at his computer to create a new driver’s license for Emma.]
Shalimar: It’s too bad about Emma, huh?
Jesse: Yeah, no kidding. Adam had a lot of hopes for her, and now it’s still just us.
Shalimar (smiling at him): Well, we’ve both seen that kind of denial before. You okay?
Jesse: Fine, why?
Shalimar: Well, she was pretty nasty to both of us.
Jesse: Yeah, she was also scared out of her wits. Still, it would’ve been nice to have another woman on the team.
Shalimar: Well, I’m with you on that one. I thought she would’ve made a good fit.
[Inside Genomex headquarters, Mason and Thorne stroll ominously towards the records room as Dr. Breedlove types at his typewriter.]
Dr. Breedlove (voiceover): When Genomex was conceived, we saw ourselves as pioneers in a new frontier of knowledge. Men and women with the power to remake the world, to play God with the genetic code. All of us at Genomex feel enormous guilt for the harm we've caused in manipulating DNA against the laws of nature.
Mason (entering the room): Speak for yourself, Paul.
Dr. Breedlove: What's that supposed to mean?
Mason (pulling the paper out of the typewriter): I don't share your guilt. [He starts to read.] "The government owes enormous reparations to the victims of Genomex for the horror inflicted on these innocents." You can't put the demons back in the box after they've been released.
Dr. Breedlove: There's no need for them to suffer without compensation.
Mason (sitting on the desk): The only thing this compensates is your guilt. You create these anomalies and then make it better by apologizing and let someone else clean up after you. Perhaps if you recognized Adam for the criminal that he is, you wouldn't be so self-deluded. [He gets up.] Mr. Thorne. [Dr. Breedlove reaches for his radio to call for help, but Thorne uses telekinesis to pull it out of his hand, then opens the file cabinet drawers on either side of Dr. Breedlove, blocking him in.]
Mason (indicating Thorne): Before you went off the deep end, you should have consulted with one of your "innocent victims."
Dr. Breedlove (staring at Thorne): What?
Thorne: That’s right. You don’t have to apologize to me, Dr. Breedlove. I’m a Child of Genomex, and quite frankly, I wouldn’t have gotten this job if I wasn’t so special.
Mason: If only you'd kept your mouth shut, everything would've been fine. But you had to beat yourself up with guilt over the mess you've made. And now I have to use your lemons to make lemonade. [He looks at Thorne who turns on the jukebox and opens the lid. One by one, he levitates the music discs and sweeps them into Dr. Breedlove’s body. Mason watches until Dr. Breedlove stops groaning, then picks up the manuscript Dr. Breedlove has typed.]
Mason: It was nice of him to rebuild the database before he died. It’ll make tracking these anomalies that much easier. [Pulling out a lighter he sets the papers on fire and drops them onto the floor before heading towards the door.] So much for the paper trail.
********Commercial Break********
[Scene: Inside the Hickman-Wrightson Securities building, Tony leans against a counter as Michael approaches one of the tellers. Brennan, carrying a metal suitcase, runs down to the control room and zaps the wires to the safe alarm, cutting it off and opening the safe doors. Coming back upstairs, he snatches a gun from one of the security officer’s holsters, signaling his partners to draw their guns. Brennan steals a teller’s necklace, then he and Tony race down into the vault, leaving Michael to stand guard upstairs. Brennan and Tony quickly find the correct safe deposit boxes, but the nervous Tony drops his key on the floor. Brennan pushes him out the door. As soon as he’s gone, Brennan delivers a jolt of electricity simultaneously into both key holes to open the box. He grabs the security bonds and squeezes out the vault door just before it slams shut. Throwing the money into the suitcase, he and Tony rush back upstairs to join Michael, and all three flee the building.]
[In the new mutant safehouse behind Ruby’s bookstore, Shalimar drops Emma’s new ID cards on the table in front of her.]
Shalimar: Your new identity. Everything you need.
Emma (examining her new driver’s license): Hey. Tell Jesse I’m sorry for that freak crack. I didn’t mean it.
Shalimar (smiling): It’s already forgotten. [On her way out, she smiles at Allison, who comes over to Emma.]
Allison: I've gotta tell you girl, I understand your decision completely.
Emma: What decision?
Allison: Not to join Mutant X. I mean, it's not like every new mutant's a hero. [Emma looks down at her new card, then back up at the safehouse door as it slams behind Shalimar.]
[Brennan, Michael, and Tony meet Brad Carter again on top of the parking garage.]
Brad: Did everything go as planned?
Michael (handing him the suitcase): 500 treasury certificates, each worth a twenty grand.
Tony: For a total of 10 mil.
Brennan: Oh, well, uh, actually, that’s 20 million. Since the certificates belong to you already, that’s 10 million and another 10 from the insurance company.
Brad: Smart boy. A thief who knows his investments. I’d keep an eye on him if I were you. [He gets into his car.]
Tony: Wait, he pays us trump change and doubles his 10 mil?
Brennan (patting Tony’s back): That’s the nature of the business.
[A little later, Tony sits in the bar, nursing a drink. Leaning towards the television screen, he presses a button on Proxy Blue’s page.]
Proxy Blue: Interactive hotline. Can I help you?
Tony: Yeah, uh, is it true you’re offering money for stories?
Proxy Blue: If they’re interesting.
Tony: Do I have a freak for you. It’s a guy named Mulwray, Brennan Mulwray. He shoots lightning from his hands. Yeah, and he’s a thief too.
[In Mason’s office at Genomex headquarters, Mason sits in the red chair behind his desk, delivering a sober taped address to be broadcast over large television screens positioned around the building to all Genomex employees.]
Mason: With Dr. Breedlove’s death, I have set in motion several sweeping changes in our operation, starting with an expanded budget that will affect all departments. We have operated under covert conditions since the inception of this project. That need for secrecy has been brought home by this brutal murder. A heinous crime that was committed by a product of the program who somehow managed to break into our archive section and burn that historical landmark to the ground in the process. Genomex will not be cowed, corrupted, or coopted by these creatures. Instead, I have been mandated to create the Genetic Security Agency to protect the world from this rapacious menace. While our pure research continues, this covert force will take these anomalies into custody under a cloak of absolute secrecy. I know I can count on you all to do your best in this time of transition. Thank you. [The employees clap. Mason turns off the monitor and looks up at Thorne, waiting in front of him.]
Mason (donning his glasses): That went well, don't you think?
Thorne: Well, they seem...happy.
Mason (swiveling in his chair to gaze out his window): Don't get carried away, Mr. Thorne. They're all just easily bought by flattery and bigger paychecks. [He turns back to Thorne.] Status?
Thorne (coming around the desk): Oh. We have a lead on the electrical anomaly from our taps on the Proxy Blue hotline. May I? [He turns on Mason’s computer monitor with his remote control to view the recorded tape of Tony’s message to Proxy Blue.]
Mason (smiling up at him): Nicely done.
Thorne: Thank you.
Mason: Well, let's start performing the job that we were born to do, shall we?
Thorne: Indeed. [Mason swivels his chair around again. Together, they look down from the window onto the floor below, where researchers walk back and forth in front of mutants trapped inside stasis pods. Mason’s stoic face is superimposed upon the grim scene.]
******Commercial Break********
[Back at Sanctuary, Shalimar sits next to Adam on the ledge of the main computer screen.]
Shalimar: So how well did you know this Breedlove?
Adam (sighing): Well, he was my mentor. He was the guy who started Genomex. And with his death, everything that I feared has come to pass.
[Scene: A Volkswagon Bug drives up to the docks and parks beside a small plane. Allison and Emma get out.]
Allison: Okay. The hydrofoil leaves in 15 minutes. Let’s go. [She notices that Emma hasn’t moved from the car.] What? What?
Emma (staring into the distance): Oh my God.
Allison: What? What?
Emma (looking at a pair of dock workers walking down the pier): It’s them!
Allison: Them who?
Emma: The guys who were after me. [She uses her abilities to make the two dockworkers look like Genomex agents. By the time Allison’s vision clears, Emma’s driving away in the car.]
Allison: Damn it! [She pulls out her cellphone to call Adam.] Adam? Adam, I am so sorry. Look, Emma used her powers to ditch me! I’ll check in later. [At Sanctuary, her call echoes through the main room; Jesse comes downstairs to join Adam and Shalimar at the computer.]
Jesse: Well, so much for denial.
Shalimar: We've got to find her.
Adam (shaking his head): Yeah. We can’t let somebody with her ability to manipulate the feelings of others become the tool of our worst nightmare. You know what to do. [Shalimar heads towards the garage to get her motorcycle, Jesse returns to his computer upstairs to direct her, and Adam goes to the landing bay to sit in the Double Helix.]
Jesse (at his computer, talking into his comlink ring): Bingo. Adam, I’ve accessed the satellite data feed.
Adam (in the Helix): Thanks, Jesse. Now all we have to do is find Allison’s car.
Shalimar (on her bike at the docks): I’m on the trail, Adam. [She drives off.]
[Meanwhile, Emma’s returned to the now-empty bar to find Brennan sitting at the bar, reading a book.]
Emma: This seat taken?
Brennan (standing up): Hey! No, no. Have a seat.
Emma (sitting next to him): I was kinda hoping to see you again.
Brennan: Actually, I saw into you the other night. How’d you do that?
Emma: It’s a gift. I thought I sensed something kind of special about you too.
Brennan: Oh, yeah? Yeah, but it’s...uh...it’s not a mind thing. You see, I found out I could throw off sparks when I was a kid. Kinda kept it to myself, though. You know, being that different was just asking for a world of hurt. Just always felt like...a freak.
Emma: And no one ever saw you do it?
Brennan: No. No, and like I said, I keep it to myself.
Emma: Same with me. One day I’m salesgirl of the month at Leverman and Stokes -- you'd be surprised how persuasive I can be when it comes to Misses and Petites.
Brennan: No, I don't think I'd be surprised at all.
Emma: The next day, I’m trapped in someone else’s paranoid fantasy. No one wants to be friends with someone who knows how you’re feeling and can make you feel any way they choose. But I used to love to get dates to jump through hoops Saturday night.
Brennan: Yeah, I’ll bet. Oh, now you just use your powers for good.
Emma: Yeah, I don’t think I’d call them powers. It comes and goes, and when they’re here, I don’t have a real good handle on them. You know what I mean?
Brennan (nodding, holding out his hand): Here. Touch my hand. Touch my hand. [Emma hesitantly puts her hand on top of his. With his other hand, he shoots an electrical arc at a mug on the table, knocking it over.]
Emma (laughing): Nice! There’s this guy, Adam. He thinks I can learn to control my powers with a little training. Oh, he’s gonna be pissed at me. He wanted me to join them. I just got scared. [She grabs her purse and starts to get up.]
Brennan (grabbing her arm): Woah, woah, wait. You’re not leaving are you?
Emma (smiling): The ladies’ room. [On her way out, she passes Thorne on his way in.]
Thorne (checking her out): Sensational. [Brennan looks up as Thorne approaches him.] Mind if I join you, Mr. Mulwray?
[Back at Sanctuary, Jesse locates Allison’s car on his computer and calls Adam in the Helix.]
Jesse: I’ve got it, Adam.
Adam: Halfway down the 500 block on Darrien Street.
Shalimar (on her motorcycle): I’m on my way.
********Commercial Break********
[Getting off her motorcycle, Shalimar runs along a balcony, searching the streets below until she spots Allisons’ car parked along the sidewalk.]
Shalimar (into her comlink): I’ve tracked the car.
[At the bar, Thorne sits down next to Brennan.]
Brennan: What can I do for you?
Thorne: The question is, what can I do for you? Because I came here to make you the deal of a lifetime. Fast cars, hot women, all the money you'll ever need. See, the opportunities for men of your talents, they’re limitless. [Standing across the room behind them, Emma looks into Thorne’s mind and sees him strangling Brennan with a rope.]
Brennan: Talents?
Thorne: Don’t be coy. We’ve been watching you for a long time.
Brennan: Really? [Emma focuses on Brennan’s mind, projecting all the images she gleaned from Thorne’s mind. Brennan frowns, processing the information, then turns back to Thorne.] Hm. You know, as tempting as that may sound, I think I'll pass. [He gets up.]
Thorne: I wouldn’t do that if I were you. [Brennan punches him in the stomach and runs over to grab Emma’s hand. Shalimar spots them from her balcony as they race out of the bar down the street.]
Shalimar (into her comlink): She’s headed for the Skycourse. And she’s not alone.
Jesse (getting up from the computer): I’m on my way. [Brennan and Emma run through the building, down a flight of stairs. When Thorne appears at the top of the stairs, Brennan whirls around and sends a beam of electricity at his chest, sending Thorne flying backwards out of their view.]
Emma: You got him. [They slowly walk back up the stairs to check.]
Brennan: Never used it against a person before.
Emma: Is he dead?
Brennan: I don’t know. [As they reach the top, Thorne appears in front of them, rubbing the padded vest under his shirt.]
Thorne: Did you really think we’d come after a guy like you without being prepared? [A second Genomex agent walks up to join him. Emma and Brennan glance back down the stairs to see three more men at the bottom.]
Emma: This is not good.
Thorne (walking down towards them): No, it’s not, is it? We know your M.O., Mr. Mulwray. [Brennan creates another tesla coil with his hands. Smiling, Thorne leans against the metal railing.] Ah, now you really wanna do that? Piss us off? ‘Cause we’re gonna beat you senseless anyway. [Brennan electrifies the metal railing Thorne’s leaning on, but Thorne removes his hand just in time.]
Brennan (to Emma): You know, anytime you wanna make these guys jump through hoops would be fine with me.
Emma: I can’t! I lose it when I’m stressed!
Brennan: Great.
Thorne (signaling his agents to move in): Yeah, it’s great. It’s gonna make Mr. Eckhart very happy to take both of you alive. [Shoving Emma aside, Brennan kicks Agent #1 over the railing. As he’s battling #2 and #3, Shalimar leaps down from the ceiling and plants a foot in the back of Agent #4 standing at the top of the stairs. The agent tumbles downstairs to rest at Thorne’s feet. Shalimar soars over Thorne’s head to land in front of Emma, pushing her out of Agent #5's reach. Avoiding #5's punch, Shalimar backflips onto the railing. He rushes at her, but she jumps off at the last minute, and he sails over the railing to the floor below. Jesse arrives at the bottom of the stairs and masses so that the approaching agent crashes into him. Seeing Shalimar take down Agent #6, Thorne attacks her himself, but she ducks under his blows and knocks him down as well. Downstairs, Agent #7 picks up a metal trash bin and swings it at Jesse, but the bin passes through his phased body to hit Agent #8 squarely in the back. When the bin comes back around at him, Jesse unphases and shoves the bin into the agent’s chest with his foot. On the landing, Brennan’s just taken care of Agents #2 and 3 when Thorne, at the top of the stairs, stands back up, adjusts his tie, and telekinetically hurls an electric glove through the air into Brennan’s chest, electrocuting him.]
Emma: Brennan! [Shalimar and Jesse rush to rescue the unconscious Brennan from Thorne’s grasp, but Thorne aims his gun at them.]
Thorne: Stop! [Shalimar and Jesse freeze at the sight of a gun.]
Adam (coming up to Emma’s side): Let them go. This isn’t over yet. [They let Thorne and his men carry Brennan down the stairs.]
Emma: Adam. I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to cause all this trouble.
Adam: Well, now you understand the danger we’re all in. [Emma nods, chastened. All four stare out across the room.]
Closing Credits.
Mutant X Episode #101 Transcript: " Shock of the New"
[Opening Scene: A crowded city bar at night. A brown-haired young woman in a red jacket, Emma deLauro frantically pushes through the crowd, clutching her pocketbook and periodically looking over her shoulder at two men chasing her. From a television screen in the center of the room, a computerized newscaster, Proxy Blue, projects her voice over the background noise of the crowd.]
Proxy Blue: A teenage girl falls six stories, then walks away unscathed. A man bursts into flames with no signs of burns. One thing's for sure. It's getting weirder out there every day. But the truth is spoken here. [In her flight towards the door, Emma bumps into a tall man, Brennan Mulwray, nearly knocking him over.]
Emma: Help me.
Brennan: Wai-what? [Emma stares into his eyes, and Brennan recoils in shock as his mind is assaulted with flashing images of Emma screaming. Seeing that her pursuers are closing in, Emma dashes out the door. Turning, she peers at Brennan through the door’s window, and a second wave of screaming images fills his mind before she vanishes into the night. Unsure of what just happened, Brennan continues across the nightclub, glancing back at the window. Outside the club, a black SUV steadily gains on Emma as she races down the dark empty street. She’s starting to slow when a blond man in a leather jacket, Jesse Kilmartin, appears out of the darkness and pushes her out of the SUV’s path. The SUV barrels towards him, but his body dissipates so that the car runs right through him and screeches to a halt several feet away. A blonde woman, Shalimar Fox, leaps down from a building onto the roof of the SUV, kicking the driver in the face when he emerges. The passenger jumps onto the car, but Shalimar easily dodges his punches and flips backwards into the air, knocking him off the roof. Two more men come running down the street, drawing their guns. Pulling Emma behind his back, Jesse changes again, this time becoming so dense that their bullets bounce off his body. The rock-hard Jesse then punches the first shooter in the chest, sending him flying backwards. He kicks a metal barrel up over his head and spins sideways into the air, propelling the barrel into the second shooter. Shalimar soars down from the SUV's roof, shoves the driver against the car with one kick to his chest, and drops the passenger to the ground with two flying kicks to the face. Grinning at Shalimar, Jesse leans over the unconscious body of the first shooter and draws back his fist.]
Jesse: Smile, loser! [The ring on his finger snaps a photograph of the man’s face. As Jesse walks around getting pictures of the fallen men, Emma starts to back away, only to find a figure in a long black coat, Adam, striding up to her.]
Adam: No need to run anymore, Emma. You're among friends.
Emma: How do you know my name? [Shalimar and Jesse walk up; Adam smiles at them.] Wait, what's going on?
Adam: All of your questions will be answered. Right now, time to go. [He holds out his hand. She glances back at Jesse, who nods his encouragement. She takes Adam’s hand, and the four leave together.]
[A little later, a VTOL aircraft, lovingly nicknamed the Double Helix, flies over the skyscrapers of the city. Inside the aircraft, Adam sits up front, examining Jesse’s photographs of the fallen men on a holographic computer screen in front of him. Jesse and Shalimar sit on either side of Emma, who sits rigidly upright, hugging her pocketbook.]
Jesse (swiveling to face the front): Check out these shots, Adam.
Adam: Terrific. Uplink to Sanctuary’s database. Shalimar, Jesse, great work.
Emma: Will somebody please tell me who the hell you guys are and what this is all about?
Adam (swiveling to face her): Sorry, Emma. I'm Adam. [He nods at Shalimar.] And this is Mutant X. [Shalimar and Jesse smile at her. Emma gapes at Adam, perplexed.]
Opening Credits. “Shock of the New.”
[Adam leans towards Emma, continuing his explanation.]
Adam: Your assailants were members of a security wing of Genomex, a biotech firm which is actually a secret branch of U.S. intelligence. [He holds up a small circle of white plastic.] Now this is a visual cloak, and...please don’t panic. [He places the cloak on Emma’s temple; Emma’s eyes turn white.]
Emma: I can’t see!
Adam: It’s only temporary. [Shalimar puts a comforting hand on her shoulder, but the blind Emma jumps at her touch. Arriving at Stormking Mountain, The Double Helix flies straight into the face of the rock, which dissipates to admit them. The Helix continues down a long tunnel into a large landing bay. The team leads Emma, still blinded by the visual cloak, into Sanctuary, their secret headquarters.]
Emma: So why do they care about me?
Adam: It’s your tele-empathic gift. Your power to sense the feelings of others and to influence those feelings.
Emma: I don’t know what you’re talking about. [Smiling, Adam removes the visual cloak and Emma gapes at the scene around her. Behind her, a waterfall cascades down the ivied wall into a reflecting pool. Jesse and Shalimar look down at her from inside a large mushroom-shaped dojo supported by wooden stilts.]
Jesse: Pretty cool, huh? [He turns to Shalimar.] Is that what I looked like when I first saw it?
Shalimar (laughing): Nah. You just started crying. I’m kidding.
Adam (walking Emma through the garden): Shalimar and Jesse and you are all children of Genomex. Genomex conducted a secret genetics program which had the unforseen consequences of creating men and women with special abilities, like your tele-empathic power.
Emma: I keep telling you I don't have any powers! [Jesse and Shalimar come down the dojo steps to join them in the center of the room.]
Adam: Now, you're aware of these odd stories that we've been hearing about recently? Curious events, inexplicable mysteries, human oddities? [He points to a television screen, filled with images of news stories headlined “Big Brother Is Watching You.”]
Emma: Yeah, but I never believed those stories were true.
Adam: Yes, all right, some of them are fakes; some of them are hoaxes. But to an alarming degree, it's the children of Genomex that are behind such phenomena.
Emma: So it's not all aliens and crystals and reincarnation, huh? [Jesse and Shalimar grin at each other.]
Adam (leading them up the stairs to the second floor): No, well of course not. You've seen what Jesse and Shalimar can do. There are perhaps a thousand children of Genomex. Now some of them know who and what they are, but some of them are terrified at the changes that are happening to them. [He stops at the dining table.]
Emma (standing across from him): Well, I still don't get why you've kidnapped me.
Adam: I prefer to call it recruitment. [Emma looks over at Shalimar and Jesse, who smile at her from the end of the table.]
Emma (to Adam): So are you one of these children too?
Adam (sighing): No. No, I was chief biogeneticist at Genomex. [Emma stares at him through narrowed eyes.]
[Scene: Genomex headquarters. A man in a white wig, Mason Eckhart, stands in his office with eyes closed in front of a glowing circular sterilizing unit. He carefully pulls a form-fitting sheet of sheer plastic down over his face and tucks it into his collar. From a safe distance behind him, one of his employees, Frank Thorne, is reporting to him on the night’s events.]
Frank Thorne: There were two men, one woman. The woman, she attacked like a tiger, and one of the men seemed to be able to go from intangible to massive at will. And the second man grabbed the girl before we were able to get to her.
Mason (pressing the fake skin into place): That sounds like Adam and his people.
Thorne: Our GS agents are new at this.
Mason: Well, they have to get better. [Opening his eyes, he turns to face Thorne.] And fast, Mr. Thorne.
Thorne: Yes, Mr. Eckhart. Ah. [He walks over to Mason, bending close to check the seal on either side of Mason’s neck.] Ah. Good to go. [Mason dons his tinted glasses, fastens his tie, and follows Thorne out of the room.]
[Scene: Sanctuary, inside Adam’s pyramid-shaped laboratory. Jesse and Shalimar stand outside on the upper level, peering down through the glass upon Emma, who reclines in a dentist’s examining chair wearing only a black bra and shorts. Adam stands at the computer by her side, continuing his lecture.]
Adam: Despite your genetically enhanced abilities, the children of Genomex are not superhuman.
Emma: I keep telling you, I don't have any--
Adam (interrupting her, walking up to her): And it's vitally important for you to recognize the toll that these abilities take on your body, mind, and soul. [Above them, Shalimar and Jesse leave the observation deck and head down towards the lab.]
Emma: Soul?
Adam: Soul. There's a spiritual side to your condition too. Too many of the new mutants are under the delusion that they're God. [Stepping back to the computer, Adam reclines the chair and activates a yellow beam from the scanner in the ceiling above Emma.] Now, I’ve designed this EDD to diagnostically calibrate your genetic enhancement and to identify any adjustment to your DNA that might be required since your new mutant DNA? It’s in a constant state of evolution. [Turning off the scanner, he goes back to the computer. Jesse and Shalimar walk in to stand in front of Emma’s chair.]
Emma (sitting up): Well, that was too weird.
Jesse: I kinda like it, myself.
Shalimar: Yeah, me too. Helps me get in touch with my powers.
Emma: Well, I don’t have any powers. And I’m certainly not a freak like you two.
Jesse (hurt): Freak? [He leaves the room. Glaring at Emma, Shalimar’s eyes glow yellow, then she follows him out. Emma turns to Adam in surprise.]
Adam: Jesse is very sensitive. Shalimar is very territorial and very protective of the people that she loves. And that includes Jesse.
[The next day, Brennan returns to the bar to meet with two of his associates in crime, Tony Reese and Michael Azzarello. Waiting at a table with his drink, he watches the computer-generated newscaster’s report.]
Proxy Blue: Call me paranoid, but I figure the paranoid will inherit the Earth.
Tony (sitting down next to him): I thought you'd outgrown cartoons.
Brennan: I'm just curious about all this stuff that's going on.
Tony: Ah, it's crap. On the interactive hotline? It's gotta be a scam.
Michael: When you two are finished, can we talk about how we’re stepping up to the big leagues tomorrow? The deal with Carter’s a go. [They clink glasses, smiling.]
[Scene: The records room at Genomex. Mason watches as Dr. Paul Breedlove, an older bespectacled man, goes to his jukebox to play an oldies song.]
Dr. Paul Breedlove: I heard all about that business last night, Mason. Sounds like Adam to me.
Mason: You seem almost amused. That you don't despise him for betraying you remains a mystery to me.
Dr. Breedlove (turning to look at him): That you hold him responsible for the collapse of your immune system would have nothing to do with that, eh? You were always too hard on Adam.
Mason: And you were always too easy, Paul. And that's how he stole your database. [He starts to leave.]
Dr. Breedlove (calling him back): Which I have nearly reconstructed. So we can make amends for the horrific mistakes we've made. [Sitting at his desk, he begins typing on the typewriter. Mason walks out of the room to join Thorne, who’s waiting for him down the hallway.]
Mason: I should have killed Adam when I had the chance. And now Breedlove intends to go to the press and expose everything. And I'll never get the chance to bring Adam to the justice that he deserves.
Thorne: Well, we can change all that. [They smile at each other.]
[Outside the lab at Sanctuary, Adam joins Shalimar in the hallway to talk about Emma.]
Shalimar: What are we supposed to do?
Adam: Well, I can’t coerce her into admitting she’s a new mutant.
Shalimar: Fine. I guess we’ve done everything we can, then.
Adam: Well, maybe the next step is to get her out of town, under Eckhart’s radar.
Shalimar: I’ll get Jesse started, then.
Adam: Good. [She leaves.]
[Scene: The top level of a parking garage, mid-day. Arriving at the meeting place early, Brennan dons a pair of sunglasses and looks around for possible witnesses. When he sees noone, he creates a web of electricity in one hand and throws it at a black sports car across the parking lot, instantly unlocking the car’s doors. Brennan gets into the car and zaps the ignition with a streak of electricity from his finger. He laughs as the engine starts up, and zooms away. Slowly emerging from his hiding place behind a car, Tony gapes after him.]
********Commercial Break**********
[At Genomex headquarters, Mason strides through a scientific lab on his way towards the Genomex records room, this time accompanied by Thorne.]
Mason: Normal people don’t want super-powered freaks next door.
Thorne: I don’t think they’ll be too thrilled about having new mutants as covert ops either.
Mason: When we put them into the field as agents, no one will know about it. [Entering the records room, he stops in front of Dr. Breedlove’s desk.] I’m sorry to barge in like this, Paul, but I wanted Mr. Thorne to have a look at security so we’d be able to be ready for you when you go public. [Thorne walks into the room, looking around.]
Dr. Breedlove (standing): Oh, that’s a wonderful idea! Since I’m going to the press next week with full disclosure of what’s been happening here since the inception of the program.
Thorne: Well, please call me first. We have to approach this with...finesse. [They both look at Mason.]
Dr. Breedlove: I’ll give you a head’s-up.
Mason (smiling): Thanks, Paul. [He and Thorne start out of the room.]
Dr. Breedlove (calling after them): You should come down and visit us more often! [Looking almost horrified about that idea, Mason walks back down the hall with Thorne.]
Mason: A week doesn’t give you much time.
[Having completed his joyride, Brennan returns the car to its spot on top of the parking garage, where Tony and Michael are anxiously waiting.]
Brennan (getting out, chuckling): So I got here a little early, thought I’d take her out for a little test drive.
Michael: What?! You took her for a spin?
Tony: You got any idea what we could get for this at a chop shop?
Brennan: What do you mean, we? Unlike you, I’ve set higher goals for myself than grand theft auto.
Brad Carter (coming up to them): Right on time, I see.
Michael: Mr. Carter. You remember Brennan and Tony.
Brad: It’s a beauty.
Tony (looking at the car): Yeah, I’ll bet it takes the curves at 120, huh?
Brad (pointing to a skyscraper across the street): I meant the Hickman-Wrightson Securities building. [He turns to Michael.] Now you understand that you have only 120 seconds once the alarm is cut to get in and get out, right?
Michael: Yeah.
Brad: You picked my pocket this morning, you got your hands on this. [He hands him a key.] The Vice President has the twin. These two keys need to be activated simultaneously.
Michael: Not to worry, Mr. Carter. We won’t let you down.
Brad: Well, see that you don’t. Because there’s always somebody else who wants your place in the food chain. [Stepping between Brennan and Michael, he unlocks his car door. Brennan holds the door open for him, and he gets in, looking at them oddly when he has to adjust the seat for his legs. Brennan closes the door, and he drives away.]
Michael (slapping Brennan’s hand): You! You got stones of steel, dog! [Brennan hugs him.] Taking a joy ride in a client’s car. Nice.
Brennan: Yep. [He looks at Tony.] So, now you see why a chop shop isn’t an option. [Putting his arm around Michael’s shoulders, he walks off with him, talking and laughing. Tony unhappily follows them.]
[Scene: Adam leads Emma up a darkened stairwell towards Ruby Bishop’s small bookstore.]
Adam: This way.
Emma: Well, I’ll say one thing. This must be one hell of a bookstore.
Adam: You have no idea. [He leads her through a row of bookshelves, coming up behind the bookstore’s owner, Ruby Bishop.]
Ruby (without turning around): Adam. And a pretty girl! [Turning, he shakes Adam’s hand and points to the back of the store.] It’s almost ready.
Adam (smiling): Good. Emma, say hello to Ruby.
Ruby (reading her mind): Yes, the place is a mess. But I am spotless. Trust me. [She stares at him.] Your mind, it's an open book to me.
Adam: Ruby's a telepath.
Ruby: I prefer ESPer. It just sounds...sexier. [Grinning, Emma reaches out to shake his hand; he hold hers in both of his.] Oh, Adam. You told me she was special. You didn’t tell me how special.
Adam: Come on. Let’s go. [Ruby stands guard as Adam walks to a special bookcase, and pulls out one of the books.] Just like in the movies. [The bookcase swivels inward to reveal a large inner warehouse. As they walk in, a woman and a man look up from their repair work.] Allison? Vince? This is Emma.
Allison: What’s up, Adam?
Vince: Adam. [Vince’s hands move faster than the speed of light as he fits plugs into a circuit breaker.]
Allison (maneuvering a small blowtorch through the air with her mind): Hey girl, what’s up?
Emma: What is this place?
Adam: This is a new mutant safehouse.
Emma: Safe from what?
Adam: Your assailants last night, they were the tip of the iceberg.
Allison: So what's your power?
Emma: I don't have any powers.
Allison: Ah. The power of denial. So, you ready to leave tomorrow? [Emma glances at Adam in confusion.]
Adam: We’re going to get you out of town. We’re gonna give you a new identity, a whole new life.
Emma: Well, what if I don’t wanna go?
Adam: Well, then, the people we rescued you from last night will try again. And they’re nowhere near as friendly as we are. [To Allison.] Why don’t you show her around?
Allison: Yeah. [Adam leaves.]
[Back at Sanctuary’s main room, Shalimar’s standing next to Jesse as he works at his computer to create a new driver’s license for Emma.]
Shalimar: It’s too bad about Emma, huh?
Jesse: Yeah, no kidding. Adam had a lot of hopes for her, and now it’s still just us.
Shalimar (smiling at him): Well, we’ve both seen that kind of denial before. You okay?
Jesse: Fine, why?
Shalimar: Well, she was pretty nasty to both of us.
Jesse: Yeah, she was also scared out of her wits. Still, it would’ve been nice to have another woman on the team.
Shalimar: Well, I’m with you on that one. I thought she would’ve made a good fit.
[Inside Genomex headquarters, Mason and Thorne stroll ominously towards the records room as Dr. Breedlove types at his typewriter.]
Dr. Breedlove (voiceover): When Genomex was conceived, we saw ourselves as pioneers in a new frontier of knowledge. Men and women with the power to remake the world, to play God with the genetic code. All of us at Genomex feel enormous guilt for the harm we've caused in manipulating DNA against the laws of nature.
Mason (entering the room): Speak for yourself, Paul.
Dr. Breedlove: What's that supposed to mean?
Mason (pulling the paper out of the typewriter): I don't share your guilt. [He starts to read.] "The government owes enormous reparations to the victims of Genomex for the horror inflicted on these innocents." You can't put the demons back in the box after they've been released.
Dr. Breedlove: There's no need for them to suffer without compensation.
Mason (sitting on the desk): The only thing this compensates is your guilt. You create these anomalies and then make it better by apologizing and let someone else clean up after you. Perhaps if you recognized Adam for the criminal that he is, you wouldn't be so self-deluded. [He gets up.] Mr. Thorne. [Dr. Breedlove reaches for his radio to call for help, but Thorne uses telekinesis to pull it out of his hand, then opens the file cabinet drawers on either side of Dr. Breedlove, blocking him in.]
Mason (indicating Thorne): Before you went off the deep end, you should have consulted with one of your "innocent victims."
Dr. Breedlove (staring at Thorne): What?
Thorne: That’s right. You don’t have to apologize to me, Dr. Breedlove. I’m a Child of Genomex, and quite frankly, I wouldn’t have gotten this job if I wasn’t so special.
Mason: If only you'd kept your mouth shut, everything would've been fine. But you had to beat yourself up with guilt over the mess you've made. And now I have to use your lemons to make lemonade. [He looks at Thorne who turns on the jukebox and opens the lid. One by one, he levitates the music discs and sweeps them into Dr. Breedlove’s body. Mason watches until Dr. Breedlove stops groaning, then picks up the manuscript Dr. Breedlove has typed.]
Mason: It was nice of him to rebuild the database before he died. It’ll make tracking these anomalies that much easier. [Pulling out a lighter he sets the papers on fire and drops them onto the floor before heading towards the door.] So much for the paper trail.
********Commercial Break********
[Scene: Inside the Hickman-Wrightson Securities building, Tony leans against a counter as Michael approaches one of the tellers. Brennan, carrying a metal suitcase, runs down to the control room and zaps the wires to the safe alarm, cutting it off and opening the safe doors. Coming back upstairs, he snatches a gun from one of the security officer’s holsters, signaling his partners to draw their guns. Brennan steals a teller’s necklace, then he and Tony race down into the vault, leaving Michael to stand guard upstairs. Brennan and Tony quickly find the correct safe deposit boxes, but the nervous Tony drops his key on the floor. Brennan pushes him out the door. As soon as he’s gone, Brennan delivers a jolt of electricity simultaneously into both key holes to open the box. He grabs the security bonds and squeezes out the vault door just before it slams shut. Throwing the money into the suitcase, he and Tony rush back upstairs to join Michael, and all three flee the building.]
[In the new mutant safehouse behind Ruby’s bookstore, Shalimar drops Emma’s new ID cards on the table in front of her.]
Shalimar: Your new identity. Everything you need.
Emma (examining her new driver’s license): Hey. Tell Jesse I’m sorry for that freak crack. I didn’t mean it.
Shalimar (smiling): It’s already forgotten. [On her way out, she smiles at Allison, who comes over to Emma.]
Allison: I've gotta tell you girl, I understand your decision completely.
Emma: What decision?
Allison: Not to join Mutant X. I mean, it's not like every new mutant's a hero. [Emma looks down at her new card, then back up at the safehouse door as it slams behind Shalimar.]
[Brennan, Michael, and Tony meet Brad Carter again on top of the parking garage.]
Brad: Did everything go as planned?
Michael (handing him the suitcase): 500 treasury certificates, each worth a twenty grand.
Tony: For a total of 10 mil.
Brennan: Oh, well, uh, actually, that’s 20 million. Since the certificates belong to you already, that’s 10 million and another 10 from the insurance company.
Brad: Smart boy. A thief who knows his investments. I’d keep an eye on him if I were you. [He gets into his car.]
Tony: Wait, he pays us trump change and doubles his 10 mil?
Brennan (patting Tony’s back): That’s the nature of the business.
[A little later, Tony sits in the bar, nursing a drink. Leaning towards the television screen, he presses a button on Proxy Blue’s page.]
Proxy Blue: Interactive hotline. Can I help you?
Tony: Yeah, uh, is it true you’re offering money for stories?
Proxy Blue: If they’re interesting.
Tony: Do I have a freak for you. It’s a guy named Mulwray, Brennan Mulwray. He shoots lightning from his hands. Yeah, and he’s a thief too.
[In Mason’s office at Genomex headquarters, Mason sits in the red chair behind his desk, delivering a sober taped address to be broadcast over large television screens positioned around the building to all Genomex employees.]
Mason: With Dr. Breedlove’s death, I have set in motion several sweeping changes in our operation, starting with an expanded budget that will affect all departments. We have operated under covert conditions since the inception of this project. That need for secrecy has been brought home by this brutal murder. A heinous crime that was committed by a product of the program who somehow managed to break into our archive section and burn that historical landmark to the ground in the process. Genomex will not be cowed, corrupted, or coopted by these creatures. Instead, I have been mandated to create the Genetic Security Agency to protect the world from this rapacious menace. While our pure research continues, this covert force will take these anomalies into custody under a cloak of absolute secrecy. I know I can count on you all to do your best in this time of transition. Thank you. [The employees clap. Mason turns off the monitor and looks up at Thorne, waiting in front of him.]
Mason (donning his glasses): That went well, don't you think?
Thorne: Well, they seem...happy.
Mason (swiveling in his chair to gaze out his window): Don't get carried away, Mr. Thorne. They're all just easily bought by flattery and bigger paychecks. [He turns back to Thorne.] Status?
Thorne (coming around the desk): Oh. We have a lead on the electrical anomaly from our taps on the Proxy Blue hotline. May I? [He turns on Mason’s computer monitor with his remote control to view the recorded tape of Tony’s message to Proxy Blue.]
Mason (smiling up at him): Nicely done.
Thorne: Thank you.
Mason: Well, let's start performing the job that we were born to do, shall we?
Thorne: Indeed. [Mason swivels his chair around again. Together, they look down from the window onto the floor below, where researchers walk back and forth in front of mutants trapped inside stasis pods. Mason’s stoic face is superimposed upon the grim scene.]
******Commercial Break********
[Back at Sanctuary, Shalimar sits next to Adam on the ledge of the main computer screen.]
Shalimar: So how well did you know this Breedlove?
Adam (sighing): Well, he was my mentor. He was the guy who started Genomex. And with his death, everything that I feared has come to pass.
[Scene: A Volkswagon Bug drives up to the docks and parks beside a small plane. Allison and Emma get out.]
Allison: Okay. The hydrofoil leaves in 15 minutes. Let’s go. [She notices that Emma hasn’t moved from the car.] What? What?
Emma (staring into the distance): Oh my God.
Allison: What? What?
Emma (looking at a pair of dock workers walking down the pier): It’s them!
Allison: Them who?
Emma: The guys who were after me. [She uses her abilities to make the two dockworkers look like Genomex agents. By the time Allison’s vision clears, Emma’s driving away in the car.]
Allison: Damn it! [She pulls out her cellphone to call Adam.] Adam? Adam, I am so sorry. Look, Emma used her powers to ditch me! I’ll check in later. [At Sanctuary, her call echoes through the main room; Jesse comes downstairs to join Adam and Shalimar at the computer.]
Jesse: Well, so much for denial.
Shalimar: We've got to find her.
Adam (shaking his head): Yeah. We can’t let somebody with her ability to manipulate the feelings of others become the tool of our worst nightmare. You know what to do. [Shalimar heads towards the garage to get her motorcycle, Jesse returns to his computer upstairs to direct her, and Adam goes to the landing bay to sit in the Double Helix.]
Jesse (at his computer, talking into his comlink ring): Bingo. Adam, I’ve accessed the satellite data feed.
Adam (in the Helix): Thanks, Jesse. Now all we have to do is find Allison’s car.
Shalimar (on her bike at the docks): I’m on the trail, Adam. [She drives off.]
[Meanwhile, Emma’s returned to the now-empty bar to find Brennan sitting at the bar, reading a book.]
Emma: This seat taken?
Brennan (standing up): Hey! No, no. Have a seat.
Emma (sitting next to him): I was kinda hoping to see you again.
Brennan: Actually, I saw into you the other night. How’d you do that?
Emma: It’s a gift. I thought I sensed something kind of special about you too.
Brennan: Oh, yeah? Yeah, but it’s...uh...it’s not a mind thing. You see, I found out I could throw off sparks when I was a kid. Kinda kept it to myself, though. You know, being that different was just asking for a world of hurt. Just always felt like...a freak.
Emma: And no one ever saw you do it?
Brennan: No. No, and like I said, I keep it to myself.
Emma: Same with me. One day I’m salesgirl of the month at Leverman and Stokes -- you'd be surprised how persuasive I can be when it comes to Misses and Petites.
Brennan: No, I don't think I'd be surprised at all.
Emma: The next day, I’m trapped in someone else’s paranoid fantasy. No one wants to be friends with someone who knows how you’re feeling and can make you feel any way they choose. But I used to love to get dates to jump through hoops Saturday night.
Brennan: Yeah, I’ll bet. Oh, now you just use your powers for good.
Emma: Yeah, I don’t think I’d call them powers. It comes and goes, and when they’re here, I don’t have a real good handle on them. You know what I mean?
Brennan (nodding, holding out his hand): Here. Touch my hand. Touch my hand. [Emma hesitantly puts her hand on top of his. With his other hand, he shoots an electrical arc at a mug on the table, knocking it over.]
Emma (laughing): Nice! There’s this guy, Adam. He thinks I can learn to control my powers with a little training. Oh, he’s gonna be pissed at me. He wanted me to join them. I just got scared. [She grabs her purse and starts to get up.]
Brennan (grabbing her arm): Woah, woah, wait. You’re not leaving are you?
Emma (smiling): The ladies’ room. [On her way out, she passes Thorne on his way in.]
Thorne (checking her out): Sensational. [Brennan looks up as Thorne approaches him.] Mind if I join you, Mr. Mulwray?
[Back at Sanctuary, Jesse locates Allison’s car on his computer and calls Adam in the Helix.]
Jesse: I’ve got it, Adam.
Adam: Halfway down the 500 block on Darrien Street.
Shalimar (on her motorcycle): I’m on my way.
********Commercial Break********
[Getting off her motorcycle, Shalimar runs along a balcony, searching the streets below until she spots Allisons’ car parked along the sidewalk.]
Shalimar (into her comlink): I’ve tracked the car.
[At the bar, Thorne sits down next to Brennan.]
Brennan: What can I do for you?
Thorne: The question is, what can I do for you? Because I came here to make you the deal of a lifetime. Fast cars, hot women, all the money you'll ever need. See, the opportunities for men of your talents, they’re limitless. [Standing across the room behind them, Emma looks into Thorne’s mind and sees him strangling Brennan with a rope.]
Brennan: Talents?
Thorne: Don’t be coy. We’ve been watching you for a long time.
Brennan: Really? [Emma focuses on Brennan’s mind, projecting all the images she gleaned from Thorne’s mind. Brennan frowns, processing the information, then turns back to Thorne.] Hm. You know, as tempting as that may sound, I think I'll pass. [He gets up.]
Thorne: I wouldn’t do that if I were you. [Brennan punches him in the stomach and runs over to grab Emma’s hand. Shalimar spots them from her balcony as they race out of the bar down the street.]
Shalimar (into her comlink): She’s headed for the Skycourse. And she’s not alone.
Jesse (getting up from the computer): I’m on my way. [Brennan and Emma run through the building, down a flight of stairs. When Thorne appears at the top of the stairs, Brennan whirls around and sends a beam of electricity at his chest, sending Thorne flying backwards out of their view.]
Emma: You got him. [They slowly walk back up the stairs to check.]
Brennan: Never used it against a person before.
Emma: Is he dead?
Brennan: I don’t know. [As they reach the top, Thorne appears in front of them, rubbing the padded vest under his shirt.]
Thorne: Did you really think we’d come after a guy like you without being prepared? [A second Genomex agent walks up to join him. Emma and Brennan glance back down the stairs to see three more men at the bottom.]
Emma: This is not good.
Thorne (walking down towards them): No, it’s not, is it? We know your M.O., Mr. Mulwray. [Brennan creates another tesla coil with his hands. Smiling, Thorne leans against the metal railing.] Ah, now you really wanna do that? Piss us off? ‘Cause we’re gonna beat you senseless anyway. [Brennan electrifies the metal railing Thorne’s leaning on, but Thorne removes his hand just in time.]
Brennan (to Emma): You know, anytime you wanna make these guys jump through hoops would be fine with me.
Emma: I can’t! I lose it when I’m stressed!
Brennan: Great.
Thorne (signaling his agents to move in): Yeah, it’s great. It’s gonna make Mr. Eckhart very happy to take both of you alive. [Shoving Emma aside, Brennan kicks Agent #1 over the railing. As he’s battling #2 and #3, Shalimar leaps down from the ceiling and plants a foot in the back of Agent #4 standing at the top of the stairs. The agent tumbles downstairs to rest at Thorne’s feet. Shalimar soars over Thorne’s head to land in front of Emma, pushing her out of Agent #5's reach. Avoiding #5's punch, Shalimar backflips onto the railing. He rushes at her, but she jumps off at the last minute, and he sails over the railing to the floor below. Jesse arrives at the bottom of the stairs and masses so that the approaching agent crashes into him. Seeing Shalimar take down Agent #6, Thorne attacks her himself, but she ducks under his blows and knocks him down as well. Downstairs, Agent #7 picks up a metal trash bin and swings it at Jesse, but the bin passes through his phased body to hit Agent #8 squarely in the back. When the bin comes back around at him, Jesse unphases and shoves the bin into the agent’s chest with his foot. On the landing, Brennan’s just taken care of Agents #2 and 3 when Thorne, at the top of the stairs, stands back up, adjusts his tie, and telekinetically hurls an electric glove through the air into Brennan’s chest, electrocuting him.]
Emma: Brennan! [Shalimar and Jesse rush to rescue the unconscious Brennan from Thorne’s grasp, but Thorne aims his gun at them.]
Thorne: Stop! [Shalimar and Jesse freeze at the sight of a gun.]
Adam (coming up to Emma’s side): Let them go. This isn’t over yet. [They let Thorne and his men carry Brennan down the stairs.]
Emma: Adam. I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to cause all this trouble.
Adam: Well, now you understand the danger we’re all in. [Emma nods, chastened. All four stare out across the room.]
Closing Credits.